LA JOLLA, Calif. — Friday afternoon the Seawolves played the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds in the opening round of the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Tournament. The Seawolves came into the tournament as the fifth seed after going 6-18 in the regular season and 2-5 in conference play. Sonoma State's opening match was against the fourth seed Sunbirds, who they upset in the opening round 7-5.

Sonoma State attacked early in the game, scoring their first shot 50 seconds in. After an exclusion on a Fresno Pacific player, the Seawolves had a power play opportunity and took advantage of being up a swimmer. Taylor Brown scored the first goal with an assist from Lily Carlon. Near the end of the first period, the Fresno Pacific answered Sonoma's early goal with a goal of their own tying the game at 1. With about two minutes left in the first period Amanda Weddle regained the lead for Sonoma, putting the Seawolves up by a 2-1 margin at the end of the first period.
The Seawolves defense was unstoppable in the second period. They stopped six shots from the Sunbirds and managed to force two turnovers. Additionally the Seawolves scored two goals in the period. The first came at 4:14 when Cassidy Mundt scored from a pass from JoJo Williams,
their second goal of the game came with one second left before halftime. Amanda Weddle scored her second goal of the day. The Seawolves led at halftime 4-1.

The Seawolves had another strong period in the third, this time giving up only one goal. Freshman, Taylor Brooks started the three goal period in the third when she found the back of the net 50 seconds into the period. Her goal was followed by Cassidy Mundt second goal of the game with six minutes left in the period. JoJo Williams scored the third and final goal of the game for the Seawolves with 3:16 left in the third period. The Seawolves would go into the final period up 7-2.

The Sunbirds attempted to work their way back but their comeback bid fell short. With the Seawolves up 7-2 with eight minutes to be played, the fourth seed found themselves on upset alert. In the fourth period, Fresno Pacific would score three goals to bring the score to 7-5 and ran out of time in their attempt to come back.

With the win the Seawolves move to 7-18 and move on to the semifinals against host and #1 seed UC San Diego on Saturday. Sonoma State played UC San Diego once this year in La Jolla losing their only match 4-15. The semifinal round will begin at 2:30 pm.

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